Travel :: Tuscan Hill Towns Part II

Oh Tuscany, how you have won my heart.  One of my favorite aspects of the six days we spent there last month was visiting the quaint little hill towns {see previous post about Pienza, Montepulciano, and Montalcino here}.  Over the six days we had the opportunity to visit two more adorable villages.

Castellina was tiny and quiet.  We spent about an hour wandering the streets and climbed up to the top of the town to see the ancient Etruscan Tombs from the 7th Century B.C. {which I will admit were very, very creepy}.  The Tuscan light was an absolute dream, casting a golden glow onto the beautiful old town.  It was lovely finding a town that was almost completely deserted of tourists {at least in the morning} and sipping cappuccinos in the square listening to the beautiful Italian language. 

After Castellina we visited the famous medieval town of San Gimignano, known for the fourteen towers that make up its ancient "skyline."  While it was definitely more touristy that Castellina it was absolutely stunning, and being a little larger made for more opportunities to get lost on the windy roads.  We spent the first hour simply wandering around admiring the quiet streets and beautiful buildings.  We stumbled upon the most fantastic little eatery for lunch, Cum Quibus {which I later found out was the highest rated restaurant in the city}.  We dined outside in their tiny courtyard and since we had the pleasure of being in Tuscany during truffle season we both ordered from the restaurant's special truffle menu - Ryan choosing the duck with truffles and myself a homemade pasta with shaved black truffles and brown butter sauce.  The food was fantastic {the best lunch we had in Italy} and made that much more memorable when the waiter started walking around with the biggest black truffle I have ever seen, shaving more and more onto our meal every few minutes.  I loved the dish so much that I almost ordered another, but instead decided to wait to get gelato instead.  Before we left I climbed to the top of San Gimignano's tallest tower for a wonderful view of the city and the Tuscan countryside in the distance...what a dream.